Girlfriend
by Albion19
Summary: AU. Eden is a callgirl in this fic and Gabriel her client.
1. Chapter 1

_Present. _

"Gabriel? Gabriel please!" Her voice shouts through the slates in the door and she digs her fingers into the scaly wood, listening for him. But there's nothing, no more of his pleading, muffled voice, sounding so sincere and rational. But god he's not. "Gabriel? This isn't funny…open the fucking door!" She slaps her palms against the wood, thick sobs catching in her throat as the fear threatens to overwhelm. An intake of a wet breath drifts up from below and she falls to her knees in the dust, pressing her face up to the door. He's still there, still there thank god. "You can't do this to me Gabriel, can't you see this is wrong?" She holds her breath as he still doesn't answer. "…Don't hurt me." Voice reedy thin, weak and pleading like him.

"You said you loved me." She hears his voice louder, like he's pressing his lips to his side of the door and she presses her fingers to the source.

"I do love you, I do! God, please just let me out of here." She just wants to tell him anything, everything he wants to hear.

"I'm sorry Sarah, I'm not doing this to hurt you, you know I'd never do that. But I can't let you go. I love you to much." Then the sound of his shuffling and sighing is heard as he gets to his feet and she looks up, as if she can see him rising.

"Don't leave me!" The panic strangles her voice and the tears fall harder. "Please don't leave me in here."

His voice sounds further away but she can hear the choke in him. "I need to go away and think but I'll come back. I'd never - never leave you in there for good. I'm going to fix everything" Then silence falls only to be shattered by the front door opening and closing before it settles truly.

Eden trembles behind his double mirrors.

* * *

_Gabriel, before. _

A young looking twenty-four the woman on the other end of the line had said. Petit and dark. She even had a fitting name: Eden. Gabriel stands anxiously by his open front door, looking down at her as she looks up at him with a polite smile. She's nothing like he expected, so much fresher and cleaner then what his mind had conjured up. Pale, like a china doll kept in a box that gets whiter as the years pass instead of yellow. Tiny, neck like a stem, so fragile looking that the thought of heavy hands on her immediately repulses him.

He eyebrows rise and her mouth thins, still smiling and Gabriel shakes himself. "Sorry, sorry, come in." Her light frown clears as she steps into his kitchen and he closes the door with a quick furtive glance out. He watches her still and look around, fingers undoing her coat.

"Not many people have kitchens in their entrances." She turns to him and he has an irrational feeling of relief when he sees she's clothed under it. He stands, his body feeling supremely tall in such a small place with her and he clears his throat, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah my whole apartment is kinda strange…" He grins, knowing that it was the wrong moment to do so a second later and settles his face still again. But she returns it, dimples appearing in each cheek and he feels the need to press a fingertip on the creases.

"It's very…quaint." She turns her face then, still smiling and points to the small hallway where two doors bookend it. "Through there?"

"Please." He moves forward, trailing behind her as she steps into his living room, moving into the centre and the pleasure appearing on her face as she corkscrews around makes his stomach erupt with delight, like bright paint spreading through water.

"Oh wow, that's a lot of books. Oh you even have a stepladder like they have in old libraries." She moves to it, running her hand down the varnished wood.

"I collect rare books, as well as watches." He watches her and the happiness she's expressing puts him more at ease, like she wasn't really one of those at all. But when she turns her face is more serious but her mouth stays the same.

"The agency told you that this is just a consultation, a way for you to talk to me and asses if I'm the girl you're looking for?"

Gabriel nods, face reddening. "Yes, that what she said. I gave her details of what I wanted and - and well you're here." He says it softly, eyes trained on her face longer then normal.

"Not what you expected?" Her eyes narrow coyly, smirking. "Expecting some cokehead slut in a tinny skirt?"

The brashness of her language makes him flush but he nods, looking apologetic. "I wasn't sure what to expect. I've never done anything like this before."

She moves closer to him and he can smell her pleasant sent, juicy is the only way to describe it. Her dimples are back as she cocks her head up at him. "Well then lets get the formalities out of the way to put you at rest. This meeting will be $100 and then an extra $50 every hour if you want me to stay longer."

He interrupts. "Oh no, an hour is plenty."

She nods. "Ok then. So what exactly do you want me to do? I know you're strictly paying for company."

"Yes. Just - just your presence." He feels the muscle under his left eye twitch.

"And to be affectionate?" Sweetly smiling, moving closer and he takes an unwitting step back.

"Yes." The word croaks from him and he clears his throat. She reaches out for his hand and turns it so that the back of it faces up. She squeezes her hand into a fist and presses the roll of her fingers and palm against his skin, effectively stamping him.

"One Gabriel Gray tagged for the Girlfriend Experience!"

**************************

She watches him through the doorway, making them tea in the kitchen as she sits in his armchair. She had met many men like him but he was one of the few that was under thirty. He was certainly one of the better looking but so generically 'dork' he almost appeared a one off. He comes back with her cup, carrying it like it's made of shell and she takes it carefully.

"Thank you. So tell me more about the role you want me to play." She was there to be his guest at a party, school reunion as it turns out. He sits down next to her, back curving and his shoulders hunch as his large hands cup his knees.

"Just - well just as my date." He blushes at the word and she has to try hard not to laugh.

"Well if you want it to be convincing and with no holes then we have to think up a past. Where and when we met, where I work, when we fell in love. You know, things like that." She takes a sip of her tea, watching him over the rim.

"I'd have to pretend. Like a role play…" He looks thoughtful, biting his lip as Eden swallows, nodding.

"Exactly. You're paying for this so I want it to be perfect." She winces internally as he looks away at the mention of money and mentally struck a line through mentioning it again. She leans forward, taking the invitation card from the small table between them. "I loved school, I never made it to my reunion…" She muses quietly, finger flicking the corner of it.

"I hated it." She looks up as a harshness enters his voice. She frowns at him as he stares at a fixed point.

"Why are you going then?" She watches his eyes fix on her as he sighs, moving back in his seat.

"It's so pathetic, you wouldn't wanna hear it." He smiles weakly and Eden moves nearer, face soft.

"No, don't say that. I'm here to listen, remember?" Her hand rests on his knee and he's skinner then she first thought, jumpy as a colt.

He hesitates before answering. "It's my - my mother that's making me go. You see they sent the invite to her and she got excited, telling me to go even though I didn't have a date. That's when she suggested match making me up with some neighbour and well, I panicked. I told her I already had a date, just to stop her interfering… Not that she was being horrible, I know she was just trying to help." He adds quickly, breathing heavier.

_Ahh, momma's boy._ Norman Bates flashes through her mind unwontedly and she pushes it away as she smiles at him kindly. "I understand. Trust me you have nothing to worry about, you are not the first who has taken someone like me to events like that. It's very common place."

"Yeah?" He begins to lighten up and she can't help think he really is cute.

"Yeah, a good time for everyone…" She takes another drink from her tea cup as he looks at his watch, hiding his face. "Time almost up?"

"Almost" He looks back up, just a hint of disappointment thinning his lips. "I, erm - I'm happy with you, I'd like you to go with me."

Eden smiles "That's great. So the reunion is on Saturday? Three days." She leans over the arm rest for her bag, digging out her personal organiser. "Well I'm obviously free for then…" She slips a pencil out and flips it open to the date, crossing it off.

"Are you free tomorrow?" He says it fast, forcing it out. Eden looks back up, eyebrows raised.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm not. I will be the next day. Would you like me to come over?"

He sits up straighter, eyes fixed on the book on her lap. "Actually I was thinking about shopping." His eyes flick up to her. "For clothes. I'll buy you a dress if you need one."

"Well I have dresses but we can go out if you wish? Talk over coffee about our past." She nods at him as she stands, bringing her bag up with her. He rises to and again she surprised by his height. He shoves his hands into his pockets as she remains still, giving him a significant look. She hopes.

His thick eyebrows rise and he brings his hands back out with a flourish. "Oh sorry, right I forgot." He digs a hand back into his pocket and brings out his wallet, extracting the money which she takes with a smile as his mouth twists slightly. He steps back from her, never to near and Eden moves forward, offering her hand which he takes, visibly relieved.

"If kissing is something that you would prefer not to have then you'll need to tell me." Her fingers rub the notes together and he catches her meaning.

"I know that will have to happen…" He looks apprehensive, biting his bottom lip before he leans down and bumps his lips against her cheek, more forceful then he intended for he steps back with hasty apology. She smiles kindly at him, squeezing his hand before letting go and moving back. Leaving.

"Try not to be so nervous, I'm your lover remember?"

"I'll try." Shaky, excited voice is what she hears but his face flushes at her words with a feral sensuality and she's still perplexed by it when she reaches her car.


	2. Chapter 2

Eden was a furious shopper, loved to trek amidst the loaded or sparse railings and pull item after item from them with a relish. She was self confessed shopaholic, the only "holic" she was pleased to announce now. Gabriel trailed a step behind her on the shiny paths, totally bewildered. The last time anyone had shopped for him had been his mother, which he was ashamed to think wasn't so long ago. He stood with bags full of clothes, because a suit wasn't enough, oh no. Trying on the suits for her was an embarrassingly pleasing experience as she cooed and twirled around him and he smiled with a red face.

"Ok, so." She waved her spoon through the air, tongue smoothed icecream domed onto it as she spoke. "I'm called Bree Daniels and I work in a book shop -"

"A rare one." He cut in helpfully, relaxing back into the coffee bar chair with a sigh.

"Right. And we met there, clicked and struck up a friendship and not soon after love_ blossomed_." There it was again, that sarcasm. It infused all of her speech, at least what he had heard, and the set of her mouth was gently mocking. He liked to think he had a sense of humour but she had bite and the affronted reaction was something he found hard to push down.

"You now live with me in Queens, almost six months now." He liked creating this fantasy life with her, liked even more that he had someone to share and act it out with. The spoon disappeared into her mouth, sucking the icecream off with a slurp. He watched her licking it and his honourable intentions took a dip with each swipe.

"Mmm, thank you for that." She laid the clean spoon down in her bowl and stood, looking at her watch. "Well I've got to go." Gabriel stood up, gut and mouth twisting as he tried to smile.

"Thank you for coming out with me." He had paid her before they stepped out of his door but it was a transaction that both ignored once done. His girlfriend had taken him shopping, that was what happened. Eden picked up her own shopping bag and stepped around to him and he knew she was going to hug him. He did a sharp intake as her spindly arms came around him, his arms trapped at his sides as she squeezed once, looking up at him.

"This is what you want, right?" Eyes glinting darkly. She was doing what he had paid for, not what she wanted. Gabriel swallowed, nodding down at her as he bent and kissed her forehead, hand cradling the back of her head. He thought he could feel the flutter of her eyelashes against his skin but it was momentary, Eden releasing him, creating space. Then she was all action again, busily picking up his shopping to hand to him and they exited the bar together.

**********************

She thought that maybe the clothes would help, detach him from the ordinary that he was so withdrawn in. But as they had sat in the train compartment she realised he wasn't simply timid but chronically anti-social, lacking in everyday social interactions had crippled him. She had only seen him truly at ease with a watch in his hands.

All the way there he was seconds away from turning back, shifting uncomfortably in his black blazer, his hand flittering up to hover above the hair she had teased before shaking it's way back down so that Eden had to take it in hers. He had confided nervously that he didn't dance, he couldn't, he would disappoint her and make a fool of himself. Over and over, picking holes in himself. By the time they stood outside the school Eden was torn between feeling concerned and frustrated. But, as it turned out, they had nothing to worry about.

A metamorphosis was the only way to describe it. The hand holding hers stopped shaking and sweating, holding tight with determination as they entered the gym and saw people dotted around, seated at tables. His body simultaneously heightened and loosened, easy fluid grace seeping into his step as they moved further in. His face - she couldn't stop staring at him. The worry lines smoothed, ticks and flinches ceased as an almost haughty expression settled over his features. He looked over everyone with a humorous cynicism, eyes taking everything in. But what did remain was his stillness.

"Hell Gabriel, I should take you out more often." Those calm eyes flick to her and then trail over her face slowly before locking with hers. Soft and roasting at her and she felt her stomach tingle when he kept the contact up.

He smiled, head tilting to a table. "Come on." Eden had been to many of these events as an arm piece to a jittery recluse but this may be the first time that her client had totally immersed himself into the act. She was Bree and he was her boyfriend. Not that he had told anyone this, no one came up to anyone they didn't know and no one knew Gabriel. But as she watched him watching her she though that maybe he didn't care, so satisfied was he.

80's techno made way for slow, anguished romantic ballads and she found herself oscillating in his arms, hands on his shoulders, face tilted up to his. His eyes flickered once over the other dancers before he looked down to her and there his gaze remained. He raised an eyebrow at her gentle scrutiny.

"What is it?" Even his voice was changed, deeper.

"You're different. More confidant."

He shrugged, the hand circling her waist drawing her closer. "You said that we had to behave as if in a role play."

Her brows lifted. "You're acting right now?"

His lips curled softly and he looked down. Gabriel was there but just not completely, if he was she would have been dancing with a quivering mess. And he really wasn't that different to her, for what was she doing but performing? But this was the first time someone had gone all out and recuperated. She pressed herself forwards as his hands started a slow, leisurely exploration of her back and flanks.

"You're so small, my hands can ring your waist." He proved this briefly before his fingers trailed sensually up her silken gloved body. Brown eyes seemed to drink up her appearance and she could read an obvious interest but mostly a calm happiness. "I haven't been this close to anyone for a long time…" his hand cupped around her neck and his thumb brushed over her cheek.

"I hope not, I would have to ditch you if you were unfaithful." She smiled mischievously, expecting the same from him but instead he flinches, eyes hardening.

"That wouldn't happen."

"You would never cheat on me?" Metaphorically speaking she added mentally.

His eyes became intense but not hard. "Never, not if I had you." He continued to stare at her and Eden was stumped, was it an act or was he truthful? Maybe she didn't want to know. Didn't need to know.

"Well for the next four hours you do have me." He wants to kiss her, his eyes twitching down to her mouth and when he dips his head there is hardly a tremble in him, just the sure pressure of his lips. The opening of her own to accept him takes her by surprise but it's a far away worry. He takes her mouth over and over, till no more songs play and disinterested people make their way back home.

But the confidence starts to shed it's skin on the train back, his furtive gaze and hand on her thigh constant, as if making sure she was still there. Any response to her concern were met with a hasty nod and a flickering smile, his newly seen transformation slipping to reveal the timid man she had first met. The carriage was empty of viewers.

*********************

It had been exhilarating after being so nervous. Like how actors say that they're a wreck of nerves but then overcome with serenity when on stage was how Gabriel had felt when he stepped into that gym. It had been so easy, so effortless that the actual process of acting never entered his mind. Everyone saw him with her, everyone gave him quick interested glances, trying to place him. Even with his glasses on they would never connect him with Gabriel but god he hoped they did.

She sits in his chair, sighing as she takes the uncomfortable strappy shoes off her feet. He stands by the cabinet thinking they both look ridiculously overdressed in his scholarly room. Well, not her, she looks beautiful.

"You were amazing Gabriel, really surprised me." She sighs, resting back and the low light cast gleaming ripples on her dress, silky black material that hung around her neck, sharp bird shoulders bare. He rubs his fingers together, smooth from the times he had rubbed them over her.

He shrugs but is pleased. "I wouldn't even have been there if it wasn't for you." He looks at her with a soft lingering affection and Eden blinks up at him sleepily, smiling back with eyes narrowing.

"What?"

"I just -" He stalls, getting his words together. "You have no idea what this means to me, you being here. I can't even say what I mean." He breathed out, vexed and sat down next to her, slumped and she starts to giggle at his melodramatic concern.

"Gabriel, you're very sweet man. You just have to make the effort you know? Go out there, make friends and even meet girls." She said it kindly, leaning forward but he just stares at her like she were mad.

"But I don't want to, I mean I don't need to." _Not when I have you_. It was never spoken but it vibrated around her none the less, the admission plain on his face. She swallows, looking at him sadly. Gabriel rose quickly, eyes looking away.

He circles his room, circles her slowly and she still remains, sitting still. He comes to stand by the partition hiding his bedroom, back to her. "Will you stay with me tonight?" His voice is a whisper.

"…W- what?" Her voice is thick with sleep as he turns to see her struggle up right.

"Will you sleep with me?" Her face peers up at him above the back of the chair and he can't read her at all.

"I don't do sex." Voice monotone, stating a fact.

His lungs inflate, blood rushing and he takes a step closer. "Not like that. Just fall asleep with me."

He sees her dark eyes soften, so hard and uncannily intense before. Her mouth starts to form into its old curl. "Still your girlfriend?" She looks at his walls, looking for a clock and tilts her head, confused and sidetracked. "You have no clock?"

His eyes widen and he shakes his head. "No, don't need it to be honest, I can tell the time without one."

"Impressive." She rises from the chair and comes to him, head still tilted. "What I was going to say is, your time is up…" She taps her bare wrist but what she was really doing was rubbing her fingers together. Had to pay for her to lie with him. It was worth it.

Exchanges undertaken she was in his arms again and although he couldn't hold her with the surety of before he was finding it easier.

"What the hell is that before we go anywhere." She wobbled on her tiptoes, looking over his shoulder at the heavy black curtain he had for a bedroom door.

"It's - well, it's a curtain." He said simply, smiling with a blush.

She presses up to him, arm around his neck and her head falls heavy on his shoulder. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…"

He doesn't want to pick her up so he twists her around with one hand while the other draws the material back. He explains in a soft low voice about how it was originally one big open space, his original bedroom too small and dingy. He sat her down on his bed, blood flaming his skin as she leans back on her hand and then slowly sinks down onto her back.

"What other bedroom?" Her question goes unanswered as he moves to the bathroom, switching on the lights. He turns back to see her watching him, eyes half lidded. "Got something for me to wear?"

"I have some nightgowns hanging up." He keeps a straight face and she stares at him shocked before she laughs.

"Gabriel you cracked a joke!"

"Yes I did." He turns to his chest of draws, breathing in deeply, his heart beating to hard. He opens his draw and sees his sweaters neatly folded and then closes it again, shaking his head. He bends down, pulling a draw open and tugs out a t-shirt. She rolls off the bed and takes it from his outstretched hand, seemingly at ease. The bathroom door closes behind her with a click and he finally lets the emotions shake him, his face twisting and turning with fear and joy. He wants to laugh hysterically and cups a hand to his mouth as his mouth cracks open. Needs to get this commotion in him out before he's in there with her. The bed. He holds his breath as he pulls back the cover on the tiny thing, back shaking and face flushing.

The door opens and she comes out, cell phone to her ear. Telling her contact about the change of plans. He lifts his head up, bent over the bed with the sheet in his fist and stills at the sight of her. Her face is clear of make-up, the first time ever. The grey t-shirt reaches to below her knees and it's so big that one round shoulder slopes out of the neck. Her legs are very white and very thin, knees slightly nobly. A Chinese tattoo is inked into her foot. She looks startling in her nakedness, because that was it really, no more money soiled clothes and scents. Just what he had offered.

Her fey body was loosely enveloped with it and she tugs it down self-consciously as she hangs up, the fabric taut over small breasts and he feels a boiling swell rolling up from his centre which makes him feel at once totally full to bursting and weightless.

She blinks at his adoring gaze, stuck fast on her feet from the weight of it and she starts to redden, hand hovering up to touch her face. Then she's cocking her body to the left, mouth pursed with humour. "I should feel affronted, you never looked at me like that at the dance. Maybe I should have worn this!" She comes towards him, putting her cell in her bag as he lowers his face with muffled apologies. Eden slips into the bed, making herself comfortable with a bemused look. "You gonna fit in this?"

He scratched the back of his head, biting the inside of his cheek. He hadn't really thought about that. "We'll see…" Once changed into his pyjamas he exists the bathroom and sees she's on the very edge of the bed, the covers thrown back for him. She looks asleep. Breathing deeply, unable to stop smiling he gets in, resting on his side. Some wriggling and rearranging follows with Eden shifting over to him, her body half draped around his and he takes her in his arms, has to.

Soft lips kiss his cheek and then his lips. Goodnight.

***************************

_Present_

She knew, once she had calmed down, that he was doing this because he thought he was helping her. Because he loved her.

She gets up from her knees and feels her way through the dark, to the dim glow of light coming from the far corner. Window, small window. Eden races to it, tripping over old newspapers and begins to push it open, ropey muscles tense. Then she's banging on the ledge with all her strength, the nails cutting into her palm.

Break it open and escape. She still had time, she could get there before him.


	3. Chapter 3

Here comes the sex ;)

* * *

Waking with her in his arms was at first extremely disconcerting, like he had woken up in someone else's bed, someone else's life. But that confusion was replaced very quickly with a contentment. He wanted her in his arms, in his bed, walking along his floors, using his shower, eating his food. He wanted her to fill those empty spaces.

So she did. She inserted herself completely for only $2000 a month. But it wasn't _completely_, not really. She would kiss him and he found this increasingly easy and hungered for it but she wasn't his in full. He wanted her but would never pay for it and she would never provide the act for money, he had that one line he wouldn't cross. Or so he told himself.

Months and months she spent with him and it started to solidify in his mind that she really was his, that the money he left on the cabinet on her side of the bed was unimportant, only holding significance if she forgot to take it. He had a mantra running through his head every morning: if it's still there then she's truly with me.

When she did ask for the money it chipped and cracked at him, taking little comfort in her rising discomfort at doing so. But she had to, she would tell him, she _had_ to.

They existed in a surreal play where they performed for no one but themselves.

But for Gabriel it was _real._

_

* * *

  
_

Some nights, when she gets in late or he thinks he can detect the scent of other men he lets himself loosen. Just a little.

She lies down on his bed, a bigger, newer one, as he kisses her under the covers. He was like boiling water, slow to start but before she knew it he was ready to vapour into nothing as his mouth and tongue moves against hers ferociously, sucking the breath from her. One large hand tightens around her hip as she starts to rub against the hardness pressing to her tummy and he whimpers into her mouth and pushes his cock harder against her as he finally breaks his lips apart from hers.

"God, don't. You know what will happen." He breathes it against her throat as he lowers his head, his hips still jerking on her stilling body. She holds him to her, eyes looking up at the ceiling before she wriggles down and presses him _there_. He grunts and then sucks in a sharp breath as his eyes squeeze shut. He almost wails her name, very quietly as he suddenly rises from her, throwing the cover back to hastily make for the bathroom.

He can't stop his bodily reactions to her and it causes him acute shame and frustration that he doesn't have that control over himself anymore, especially as he had no outlet to pour that desire into. He's convinced she knows this, does this on purpose.

He takes himself in hand and watches the sliver of his bedroom reflected in the mirror before him, eyes fixed on her small shape under the cover, convinced she's watching. He comes with his teeth biting hard into his lip, trapping the sounds away from her.

This wouldn't last forever, she would succumb. She would stop thinking of the money.

* * *

Some nights he doesn't go to the bathroom. On the nights where he shakes so bad next to her and his eyes flash with an eerily feral light he gets dressed and leaves the apartment completely.

Tonight had been different, he had got carried away. He had wanted her as if she was really the thing she pretended to be, had whispered as he caressed her that he shouldn't have to pay now, not _him_.

It was like he wanted to be hurt, wanted to let the damage she inflicted with her rebuffs bleed all over her as he curls away. He couldn't stay, he wouldn't stay as she apologised and begged him to return.

Eden was covering herself. While she pretended she was also smothering her feelings. She didn't forget to take his money, she didn't _want_ to and it was foolish of her. She absolutely had to get enough but in spending time with Gabriel she was loosing it and couldn't stop herself. She had become complacent, she had made a grove in his life and she wanted to stay there. He was committed to her and Eden couldn't let go.

She unlocks and pushes the heavy door open, the bell tinkling above her and the clocks swarm around her as she steps in. She had likened the feeling of stepping into this place like being underwater, a strange feeling of submersion would cover her as she was compressed by the dark walls and the noise coming from them, those never-ending jumbled lullaby of tick-tocks.

She moves in the dark and slips through the curtain, another flimsy covering to his abode. He's asleep on his small bed, white pyjama covered back to her and she stops next to his head.

"Gabriel? Wake up…wake up." He doesn't move but she knows he's awake as he's stopped breathing. She bends down and kisses his temple softly, drawing away as he turns. Sitting up against the head board, knees drawn up he looks at her beseechingly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just don't leave, that's all I want."

She moves closer, brushing her hand down his arm to take his in hers tightly. "I'm not going anywhere." The firmness in her voice surprises her and the warning flash in her mind that follows she ignores. "It's dangerous for me to do this Gabriel, you understand?" He nods, eyes wide and glassy. Eden smiles sadly "You understand that I need to keep doing this, just for a little while until I get enough?" He nods again and she thinks he'd agree to anything she says at this point. "You understand that the police could arrest me?" His eyes harden but he nods, licking his lip. He draws her to him.

"Whatever you want, whatever you say. I'd pay what you want, everything if it means you would stay." He was extremely self sacrificing she found, almost shamefully so. Would defer to her if it meant she was pleased with him and Eden found that aspect of him cringing.

She brings his hand up to her mouth and kisses his fingers, pressing soft grazes at first before she's sucking lightly at the tips. His eyes watch her mouth and then travel down as she moves his fingers over her throat, down her chest to her breast. His eyes snap back up to her and she smiles wide. "Whatever I want Gabriel?"

"Yeah…" His voice rises to a squick and he clears his throat as she laughs softly. Then she starts the lower his hand further down her body, his eyes following as she glides him over her hip and then down to the hem of her skirt around her knees. She pulls her hand away then, her breathing growing more rapid as he doesn't move for a moment and she sighs. Then his hand start to move under her skirt, his fingers skimming along her skin.

When the pad of his fingers brush against the cotton covering her vulva he draws back, his breathing rate increasing. He sits up more and she leans closer, drawing her legs further apart.

"Gabriel, please…" He looks at her nervously but seeing the desperation on her face he presses again, two finger applying pressure to the spot were she's the wettest and Eden hums. He then starts to draw his finger back and forth, flicking over her clit to stroke down the centre to her wet spot again until she's whispering out her pleasure, eyes closed with a strange lost look. He holds his breath as he draws the cotton aside and very gently pushes one finger into the wet warmth. The both gasp as he lets his finger feel along her for a moment, tracing the delicate parts of her before he moves back and finds her entrance. He slides his middle finger up her slowly, moving up until the digit is immersed tightly, keeping it stationary before he pulls the finger back out and then in again. He freezes again, gulping.

Gabriel pants, shaking, constantly licking his lips as Eden lifts her knee up and rests it on the bed, widening her legs. She leans down and kisses him, brushing his hair back tenderly. "That's it, you're doing it. God don't stop now." She mumbles it against his lips and he nods, his breathing still laboured, still shaking. Unable to stop.

His erection is hard and very prominent, poking against his white pants as Eden starts to thrust down on his finger, reaching down to help him insert another and then she's gasping out his name as he starts to thrust into her faster, gaining more confidence at this skill. He watches her face growing red and her limbs alternatively growing loose or stiff with a transfixed eye, his other hand on her hip to bring her closer.

But he can't make her climax and she doesn't want him to, not yet. The fingers pull out of her as she pushes him back and then lowers her knickers down her legs quickly. She leans over him and they kiss hard and breathily before he breaks away as she starts to tug down his pants, getting on her knees before him. He looks up at the ceiling as she pulls his pants and underwear down and starts to breath heavily, his anxiety hitting him again. His erection presses against her stomach as she leans onto him and they kiss, Gabriel wrapping his arms around her tight.

Eden pulls back, stroking his cheek and whispers reassurances to him. He fists the sheet as he lifts his hips and she pulls his pants down fully and then takes a condom out from her bag. A banana covered in plastic-sheath comes to mind and he tries hard not to laugh because it's only at himself. The humour bubbles into excitement as he feels her finger trace the curve of his shaft and he can't look away. She rolls the sheath over him and he thrusts a few times into her fist uncontrollably, red faced. She smiles at him, shuffling on her knees and centres herself above him and he draws in a breath and holds it.

He watches as his penis disappears into the thatch between her thighs and his mouth parts as he feels the tight, smooth passage around him as he penetrates up. Fully in her he puffs out the breath.

"Oh god, god. That's amazing." He smiles as she laughs and he pulls her down to kiss her thoroughly, tongue exploring her mouth slowly. Then she straightens and begins to rise and sink on him, slow and steady at first and he's able to regulate himself somewhat but then she sees this and starts to ride him faster, placing her hands on his chest and he grips her waist convulsively. They both groan loudly as he thrusts up into her with increasing fervency, until he's the one directing her movements on him. He watches her face, watches the effect he has on her and every moan and flick of pleasure increases his. Her bares his teeth as he starts to feel close, the strokes into her deeper and harder, bucking so that she groans with every stroke, her body shaking. His eyes widen and he calls out her name, sitting up to press his face to her chest as he comes, hands fierce against her as he thrusts hard until he stiffens with a whimper.

He holds her like that, restricting her mobility until his orgasm passes and he's sated, relaxing his grip on her. Through his postcoital haze he knows she's not satisfied and it cuts through it sharply. He touches her gently, fingers running over her cheek and mouth before he moves to unbutton her blouse, kissing her shoulders and then her breasts as they are revealed. He tilts her onto her side, whispering.

"Tell me what to do." She smiles but is desperate to be satisfied, almost wants to accomplish this herself but she places his fingers against her clitoris, softly giving instructions which he follows, swivelling his fingers on her, flicking, rubbing until she arches and ruts. She hadn't expected anything, never did but when he quickly and powerfully makes her come Eden thinks she got lucky with a watchmaker, a fingersmith but that is washed away as her mind and body is overwhelmed. Gabriel gathers her to him as she becomes sleepy, covering the sheet over them as he sighs her name against her ear.

"It's Sarah, call me Sarah."


	4. Chapter 4

He sits in the dark room, the blinds drawn and slatted and waits for her to come home. She was late , hours late and he had been patiently waiting. It wasn't like this hadn't happened before, when she would crawl in next to him with whispered apologies. And he had taken it on the chin, like he always does with everything.

But he had set out some requests and she had been following them. She wasn't to do _that_ anymore, shouldn't do it if she truly felt anything for him. And for the past few weeks she had been following thoroughly, always there when he got back with a smile.

She was a liar.

He stares at the small black book in his hands so hard he doesn't hear the door opening and the click of her heels against the floor. But when the book is ripped from his hands his head jerks up.

"Were you looking through this again?" She flicks it in her hand and he lets his eyes travel over her. She's wearing a black skirt, elegant, simple and a silky blouse. But there's something new. "Gabriel?!"

His eyes move up to her face and he suddenly stands which makes her take an unwitting step back. His breathing whooshes out of his nose and his jaw aches as she straightens herself up. She was small but she was brassy. And gold; his eyes lock on to her throat, which had been bare when she left but now is adorned with a pendant, diamond twinkling against her pale skin. Her eyes widen and her hand moves to touch it but he grabs her suddenly, trapping her wrist.

"Who gave you that?" his voice is low and hurt, but he's angry, feeling it bubble in him.

Her mouth purses and she tugs back, looking at him with surprised. "What's got into you?"

"Tell me!" His voice barks and she jumps.

"No one Gabriel! It's just a gift. I'm not even going to keep it, I need the money Gabriel!" She adds quickly as his face scowls.

"You don't need to do that Sarah! I told you not to, I can give you what you want!"

She shakes her head, sad. "No Gabriel you can't. I love you and I'm not taking your money Gabriel." She moves closer to him, hand stroking his chest as she stares into his eyes. "But I'm in debt, I need to make a certain amount of money in a very limited time frame. I don't want to Gabriel, I have to."

"My money isn't good enough?"

"No Gabriel! For god's sake…" She sighs and looks down at the address book and he pulls it out of her hand sharply.

"You've been lying to me! You've been seeing men behind my back!" His eyes swim in pain and she bites the inside of her cheek.

"I'm sorry I've hurt you, I really am. But I have to do this." She looks down at her feet and her voice becomes guttural with unshed tears. "I knew this would happen, I don't know why I stay here."

"What?" His breath catches in his throat and he moves closer. "What did you say?"

Her face rises and the tears wink in the dim light. "You'll grow to hate me, you can't even take the thought of stupid gifts so anything else I might do you will-" She's cut off suddenly when he roughly pulls her towards him, face livid.

"Anything else! Anything _else_!"

Shifting gears she became just as angry, flaring up. "I'm a whore Gabriel! You think I haven't done all sorts of shit to pull myself through? It's ten thousand to just let some man stick it and -"

But she never finishes as he grabs her, hooks his fingers around the chain and violently rips it from her throat. Eden shouts out and stumbles back away from him with a fearful expression. His face is red and his hair stands on end, chest heaving as he throws the pendant to the floor with disgust and her face flashes.

"You - I can't believe you did that! Do you have any idea how much I could have got for that?!"

"I don't care!"

"You should! If you cared about me you wouldn't be doing this!" She shakes her hands at him as she speaks, puncturing her words. His face goes slack, dumbfounded.

"You're accusing me of not caring?! You want to sleep with other men!"

"NO I DON'T!" She slaps him hard across the face, shaking with rage and his eyes grow huge behind his glasses before he catches her against him and she struggles, fighting him off. His hand fists the back of her head and he crashes his mouth down against hers, his breathing rate violently fast. She pushes against his chest and they stumble back together but he doesn't let her go, tongue forcing it's way pass her teeth to ravage her mouth and she moans, shaking her head as he grasps it between his hands. Her hands tug and pull at his hair as she beings to kiss him back, tentatively at first but then with a passionate fervency.

Anger still courses through them as they begin to grope at each other, his hands moving down to her blouse and he rips the buttons in his haste which only seems to drive her even more impassioned as she breaks from the kiss to bite his lip. He growls and rips in fully off her and she pulls his glasses off and they kiss hard again as he shoves his hands under her skirt, moving up to cup her behind before his fingers delved into her knickers, moving down to her wetness and then inside her. Eden gasps, squeezing around his fingers but he pulls them out, teasing her. The back of her shins hit the chair and he pushes her down, pulling her legs apart as he drops to his knees. She moans as he pulls her panties off roughly and she spreads herself wider, biting her lip as he stares between her legs and then lowers his mouth to her. She jerks and gasps as his tongue lathers her clit and begins to lick her hard and fast, whirling and sucking and she twists tighter inside, her orgasm approaching. "Oh god, uh god don't stop. So fucking - uh…uh Gabriel!" She screams out his name as she begins to buck, her hands fierce in his hair as she reaches the edge and crashes over. She groans, mewing lightly as he moves away but he doesn't stop, fingers fumbling to get his pants undone. Finally her thighs are ringed with his hands as he leans over her and his cock plunges into her hard, teeth bared.

"Uh, Gabriel." She sits in the chair in an awkward position as he pushes her knees against her chest, her hands pulling at his hair as he pulls out and then in again with a grunt, his hands on her hips. Eden arches her neck "Yes, yes… Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!" He's still flush, eyes still fierce as he sets up a pounding rhythm, grunting and growling against her lips, then her breast as he tongues and sucks her nipples. "Harder, _harder_, don't hold back." She clenches around his shaft and he moans her name, tugging her down on the floor and throws her legs over his shoulders as his cock thrusts, every inch into her harder and harder, hands pushing against her bottom until he's crying out, stiffing over her and she feels him come.

He lowers her legs down and pulls out of her, collapsing by her side on the floor, panting. He looks at her and sees that she has her hand over her eyes, her mouth trembling. He cups her face and makes her look at him. "I'll make everything better but you've got to stay with me."

She turns to him, pushing her body against his and nods, smiling sadly. "I know, I know you want to help me. I wish you could."

"I can, I don't care about the money, I'd put my shop up for sale for you." He stares at her earnestly, the feverish energy in him not quite sated.

She brushes his cheek. "I know you would but that's not going to happen. How would you support yourself?" He doesn't answer, just shrugs. Eden smiles sadly again and pulls him into her arms. "Listen. I have to get this money. You see I - I… years ago I stole from the wrong person. I had a shitty life, shitty income and couldn't pay it back. But then I got into this and worked out a plan with this person: I would work as a call girl until I had the money and he would leave me alone."

"How much? Who?"

She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. I have most of it but -" She pauses, looking guilty. "But all the time I've spent with you I haven't been making enough." She cups his face. "I never wanted to have sex for money and I wouldn't have but now I have no choice. I love you Gabriel and I'm sorry that I've brought my troubles into your life."

"You haven't, you haven't." He leans forward and kisses her softly, restrained and shaking.

"You won't hate me?" She stares at him hopefully and a shiver passes through him but he traps it, hides the feeling away.

"I love you." She smiles in relief, kissing him and he gets to his knees, drawing her up with him. He picks her up in his arms and moves to the bedroom.

He did love her, loved her so much that what he did was for the best. He was protecting her, keeping away from those disgusting men. She loved him, admitted it, and he would do anything to keep that.

He waits until she is deeply asleep before carrying her into the other room, careful not to wake her as he lays her down on his old twin bed. He grimaces as he looks at the dusty, grimy room surrounding her but swallowed the discomfort down. He kisses her mouth before stepping away.

He locks the door and then shuts the mirrors on them softly. His breath fogs the glass as he presses his forehead to it, waiting for her to wake on the other side.

He was doing the right thing.


	5. Chapter 5

He stands in the same place for hours, watches the window reflected in the mirror as the sun starts to rise, casting the room in a strange gloom before it starts to tinge the walls gold. He feels oddly relaxed now, maybe because he's surrounded by order, the neat rows of his books and the absence of sound. Before he felt like he was going to burst with the drumming and thundering in his ears.

"Gabriel?" Her voice is muffled and thick. Confused. His stomach flips over and his heart beats harder as he stares at the mirror, at himself.

"I'm here."

"Wh - what's going on? Where am I?" Her voice is quite, with an edge of humour, like he's playing a trick on her. She's trying to keep calm.

"You're in my old bedroom, I'm sorry it's a mess…Don't be mad at me ok?" Silence greets him from the other side and his forehead crinkles; he presses his hand to the smeared surface "Sarah?"

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god." She keeps saying it, over and over again, her voice growing high and thin with fear.

"Sarah? Sarah? Calm down, everything is gonna be ok. I'm keeping you safe." Her vocation cuts off sharply, replaced by that voiding silence. Boom! He rockets back with a gasp as she bangs on the door, shouting loudly.

"Let me out! Let me out right now!"

"Sarah, shh -" He presses a finger to his lips, her distress making him feel dizzy.

"Let me out Gabriel!"

"Sar -"

"LET ME THE FUCK OUT!"

"BE QUIET!" His voice shocks him and he bites his lip but it gets the desired effect as she falls silent. He takes a deep breath, moving closer. "I'm sorry I shouted at you, I don't want you to get stressed. You shouldn't be angry at me Sarah, I'm helping you."

She laughs, a nervous tittering sound that makes him shiver. "You're a freak. Oh god, I saw that in you but I ignored it. Jesus, Jesus…" She keeps on talking under her breath but he can't make it out.

Gabriel's face flashes with hurt and confusion, breath getting caught in his throat. "You don't mean that." He strokes the pad of his fingers down the glass with a squeak, the other in a fist.

"You're keeping me prisoner!"

"I'm keeping you safe. I love you Sarah."

That's when she starts to cry and he can't bear it. He knows this must be horrible to her, knows that he must look bad but he had to do it. He tells her gently, his voice guttural with tears as she sobs.

"Please, please don't be scared. I swear I'm not doing this to harm you or anything like that, I can't believe you would think that after everything I've done for you… But I know you'll go and leave me once you pay that debt off, you won't need me anymore."

"I wasn't, I wouldn't. Please Gabriel, let me out. If I don't pay they'll come looking for me. I don't won't you to get hurt because that's what they promised, but you'll be the one in hospital instead." Her breath hitches and she sighs.

"Hurt? They'll hurt you?" He waits for her to answer but she doesn't, just cries quietly. "No one will hurt you, I'm going to make sure."

"What?" She sniffs on the other side and her voice becomes stronger "What do you mean?"

But it's his turn at the silent treatment as he keeps his lips locked.

"Gabriel - Gabriel you're not thinking clearly. Come on, you're an intelligent, rational person. This is wrong, you know it is."

He frowns, shaking his head at himself, his reflection white faced. "I'd be stupid to let you go, let you leave and do that. No you might not see it now but this is for the best. You won't have to give yourself to anyone, not ever." he smiles with a soft sincerity.

"I hate you."

"What?" His stomach drops and he feels sick.

"I hate you right now. You think you're being smart and nice but you're not. You've done this totally without my consent. You're sick, you need help." Her voice is soft, monotone but her words tremble. The air in the room suddenly becomes non existent and he can't even see his face before him. He slips down onto his knees and places his fingers against his mouth, then takes his glasses off. She starts to plead and swear at him again and a sob escapes him. Her voice floats out next to his ear, she's on her knees like him.

He moves closer to the mirror and presses his face to it. "You said you loved me."

She gaps on the other side, proclaiming her love back in rushed but ultimately pleading voice. She's scared of him.

"I'm sorry Sarah, I'm not doing this to hurt you, you know I'd never do that. But I can't let you go. I love you to much." He sighs, getting to his feet and rubs his hands over his face before putting his glasses back on.

"Don't leave me!" Her voice is extremely panicked and he looks back in anguish. "Please don't leave me in here."

He walks backwards, knowing that if he stays her voice would ensnare him, her pain. He feels chocked. "I need to go away and think but I'll come back. I'd never - never leave you in there for good. I'm going to fix everything." He picks up her little black book in a fist and walks out of his apartment, closing the door gently and tries not to cry.

* * *

Hours and hours and hours, seconds trickling by as she presses the watch face up to her ear and lets the sound carry her off to sleep. No way out.

The banging and stamping of feet does not stir her, only when the doors open and the tall figure silhouetted in the light wavering back and forth filters through her lashes. But she can't tell if he's moving like that with pain or something else.

She holds her breath and waits to see who her rescuer is.

* * *

She sits in her cell, the same boring walls and feels bigger within them with each passing day. Her hair is shiny and soft, she looks plump but she almost shines in the dim light, skin so deprived of sunlight. She tightens her hands around the book he had given her, knuckles sharp and white as he smiles across from her, the yellow bruises on his face all but gone now.

"One more month and then you'll be out." He sits, meek and unassuming is his tweed and glasses, not the sort of man to put another in intensive care. Not the sort of man that had the mind to take down who and what he wanted.

She smiles at him with affection, breathing deep the damp air. "I know. And you, you always wait for me." He would do anything for her, she sees that now. Absolutely _anything_.

His eyes gleam and his lips part to show white even teeth. "Of course I do. I've got no one but you." And she has no one but him, he had made sure of that. Down to the very last name scribbled in her address book.

Sarah had often wished to be rescued as a child, would persevere through her troubles with the conviction that it would get better, she would be rewarded. Mentally she envisioned her father as the rescuer when she was very young, and then fictional heroes and then her latest crush.

Never did she think it would be this anachronism, this feral man in docile garb. Sarah smiles at him, reaching over to stroke his hair.

"One more month."


	6. Chapter 6: Coda

"Do you believe me?" His question, low and trembling with feeling, goes unanswered and he gropes for something to fill the gap.

He was uxorious, even though they were not married. Even though they were not together like before.

"I tore it out, that place. Its not there anymore Sarah." Gabriel sits across from her, seated in the armchairs that they had sat in years before, the same smell of coffee and cream. Sarah smiles tightly, her eyes not meeting his.

"You said before. I just - I just can't go back there." she lifts her gaze and he wants her to devour him with her strange doll eyes like she had before. Not with that disappointment, not that wariness.

He thought she would see his way, thought those months she had spent inside and still remained so close to him would last. He had turned her life around, he had set her free from those prostituting chains and he had stood with his arms open, his whole life waiting for her insertion again.

She had run after a few days back in his bed and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't let her go, couldn't get her back.

He reaches out and takes her hands and breathes in her scent, now something powdery, like lavender instead of Chanel. Babies? She bites her lip as it starts to wobble, her eyes shining sadly. "Gabriel…I do believe you, I know you love me but what you did…it was like you wanted to make me as institutionalised as you were. Are. It was crazy." She shakes her head and stands up, a fine tremor passing through her waif body. He follows her up quickly and takes her arm in his hand.

She peers into his conviction filled eyes and feels herself rocked. Never had she met anyone like him. Never had anyone felt this way about her. Maybe what happened had taken effect, maybe that soft comfort she got from his presence was still inside her.

He had never stopped pursuing her, at first trying to draw her back and then finally at a distance. Like he was her guardian. Years and Years.

He brushes his thumb over her cheek, eyes on her lips before they look at her again more intensely. "I wanted to make you safe, I wanted to protect you and I won't stop doing that, as long as I live. If that's crazy..." He shakes his head, nostril flaring.

He stands in his tweed and glasses, his skin smooth and hair so neat. So harmless and gentle. Nothing abnormal about him but she knows better. She nods again, shouldering her bag and pulls back from his caresses. He seems to enfold on himself with defeat.

She stares at him for a very long time before speaking, still curious despite herself. Still cares. "You still have that watch shop?"


End file.
